What Inspired Your Career Path? As a college student, one of the most exciting (and daunting!) discussion topics is revolved around graduation. Unlike elementary, middle, or high school, for most of us, graduating college means starting "real life." That thought is at least a little intimidating.

In fact, I wanted to check in with a few of my fellow Aggies at UC Davis and ask them how their job search was coming along. I decided to ask two main questions: What inspired your career path? And what would be your dream job?

Some students have half their lives planned out.

Junior Rebecca Xie is currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering and aspires to attend medical school straight after graduation. Last year, she spent the summer volunteering in Africa. After seeing and experiencing the lack of medical attention in certain communities, she wants to dedicate her life to improving the healthcare system, especially in developing countries.

Her dream job? To go into research and take part in finding the cure to HIV/AIDS!

Some have previous experience.

Senior Maya Giese is a Human Development major and was recently accepted to the UC Davis Graduate School of Education! She has a passion for teaching, as she grew up in Puerto Rico, where she was a volunteer teacher’s aid throughout the summer. Her dream is to move back to her home country and teach full-time.

Other students have ideas but are fairly flexible.

Sophomore Jake Saremi is a Computer Science and Statistics double major who is all about start-ups. He’s not sure whether he wants to found his own start-up or if he wants to obtain a leadership position in an existing start-up. Regardless, after completing his first internship with a start-up last summer, he is looking forward to a full-time position with "chillax atmosphere, flexibility, and free food."

His dream job? becoming a professional golfer and/or become the next Bachelor.

Some are inspired by their friends and family.

Abigail Getz is a junior majoring in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior Sciences (NPB) and is also on the pre-med track. Her uncle is a surgeon and she has had the opportunity to speak to him about the career path. She also loves watching Grey’s Anatomy (but she swears that has no influence on her decision!).

Mark Selton is a freshman who is currently Undecided (Engineering). He has always had a passion for math and science and has been doing research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since high school. His father is also a professor at UCSF and has taught Mark about the wonders of research from an early age. Mark’s dream is to become the next Charles Darwin; he wants to make a breakthrough scientific discovery that will completely change our current ways of thinking.

Some are just testing all the waters.

Sophomore Chelsey Chen is an International Relations, Economics and French triple-major who is using her time in college to explore positions in Marketing, Event Planning, and Finance. You’d think that someone who is triple-majoring would have more figured out, but no. Oh wait--whoops, that’s me. While I have a faint idea of what I like and dislike (i.e. I am not well-suited for sales, but really enjoy my international trade courses), I’m still trying to figure out the big picture. Last summer, I experienced the non-profit Event Planning sector through a 16-week internship and recently, I’ve had an awesome opportunity of completing a Social Media Marketing Projectship with ProSky! Both my internship and projectship have helped me immensely on deciding what I want to do after graduation--after all, they simulate real jobs instead of a simple classroom experience.

But what’s my dream job? A fashionable CIA agent who travels the world with a suitcase full of kittens.

So what inspired your (dream) career path? Has it changed throughout the years? And how ready do you think you really are for post-graduation? Comment below!